Singularity - Hardcover

DeSmedt, Bill

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0974573442 ISBN 13: 9780974573441

Publisher: Per Aspera Press Division of Viridian City Media, 2005

Synopsis

Jonathan Knox's knack for intuiting hidden relationships among seemingly isolated events serves his Fortune-500 clients well, but when federal agent Marianna Bonaventure blackmails him into helping her, Knox's talent is put to the ultimate test. Bonaventure is investigating a Russian industrialist suspected of trading in WMD research, but together they uncover something far more chilling: an attempt to capture a microscopic black hole and harness its awesome power to transform the world -- or end it!

About this title

About the Author

Bill DeSmedt has worked as a computer programmer, a consultant to Fortune 500 companies, and a Soviet area expert. He lives in Milford, Pennsylvania.

From the Back Cover

Greg Bear, New York Times bestselling author; Hugo & Nebula award winner
"a swift, gripping novel with a goose-pimple mix of scary science and near-future action. An excellent debut from Bill DeSmedt."

Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author
"... juggles Clancy, Crichton, and THE DA VINCI CODE. An innovative ... end-of-the-world thriller, with convincing research and locomotive pacing."

David Brin, New York Times bestselling author; Hugo & Nebula award winner
"DeSmedt veers an action-packed thriller into perilous realms of black hole physics. The combination of adrenaline and intellect sizzles."

Kip Thorne, Caltech physicist and national bestselling author of Black Holes and Time Warps
"Bill got the vast majority of the physics right, highly unusual in a book that is such a good read."

From the Inside Flap

June 30th, 1908 In the remote Tunguska region of Siberia, the most violent cosmic collision in recorded history flattened ancient forests over an area half the size of Rhode Island. Yet after a hundred years of international scientific research the cause of this impact remains a mystery.

A MAVERICK ASTROPHYSICIST
Jack Adler thinks he s fingered the culprit: a submicroscopic black hole, smaller than an atom, heavier than a mountain, older than the stars. What s more, that fantastic object is still down there, deep inside the Earth, burrowing through the mantle in an ever-decaying orbit that will end only when it has devoured the entire planet.

A ROOKIE SECRET AGENT
Marianna Bonaventure is tracking three missing scientists suspected of involvement in weapons of mass destruction research. The trail leads to Rusalka, the luxurious floating corporate headquarters of billionaire Russian industrialist Arkady Grishin. Determined to prove herself, Marianna creates an elaborate ruse in order to infiltrate the megayacht a dangerous gambit that requires the coerced cooperation of a rather special civilian . . .

AN UNCANNY CONSULTANT
Jonathan Knox is one of the country s most sought-after analysts; his knack for intuiting hidden relationships among seemingly disparate events serves his Fortune-50 clients well. But when Marianna compels the reluctant Knox to join her undercover mission, he must grapple with puzzles of a whole different order of magnitude.

Against violent and cunning opposition, the three of them unearth a scheme to capture the submicroscopic black hole that caused the Tunguska Event and use its awesome power to transform the world or end it altogether.

Bill DeSmedt s debut is a tour-de-force of breakneck plotting, complex characters, and cutting-edge science. From the trackless wastes of Siberia to the rooftops of Manhattan to the stygian depths of the North Atlantic, Singularity weaves a richly detailed and intelligent tale, meticulously researched and elegantly told.

Edition details

• Publisher: Per Aspera Press Division of Viridian City Media
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0974573442
• ISBN 13: 9780974573441
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 502